1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device.
2. Related Art
The integration level and micronization of semiconductor devices are advancing further and further. This naturally requires designing a contact for connecting an interconnect layer and an electrode of elements such as transistors and capacitors, and a via for connecting the interconnect layers, in a smaller diameter. If a contact or a via (hereinafter generally referred to as “conductive plug”) is not properly opened, the semiconductor device results in being defective. Accordingly, in-line inspection of the conductive plug hole is becoming more critically important. Such inspection can be executed by providing an inspection hole apart from the conductive plug hole, and observing the bottom of the inspection hole through a scanning electron microscope (SEM).
In this relation, for example JP-A No. 2004-119449 discloses a semiconductor device as shown in FIG. 7, which is a plan view for explaining positioning of an inspection hole in the semiconductor device. In FIG. 7, an inspection hole 101 in the conventional semiconductor device is located, like the conductive plug hole, on a diffusion layer or an interconnect layer 102.